Hugh Sheridan’s Covid illness after using Chinese medicine during filming for The Masked Singer

Hugh Sheridan has revealed what really went on behind the scenes of The Masked Singer after he had a debilitating illness.

Four-time Logie winner Hugh Sheridan, who finished third on The Masked Singer on Sunday night, has revealed that he suffered panic attacks and a debilitating bout of Covid before the show began.

So sore was his throat from having had the virus, the 37-year-old told News Corp he turned to eastern medicine at one stage during filming with gut-wrenching side effects.

The Chinese medicine elixir he took — one commonly used by opera singers — caused him to be violently ill.

“I was (on set) and I suddenly got crippling pains in my stomach,” he said.

“I didn’t realise that it was also a diuretic.

“I grabbed the nearest basket and vomited.

“I had to run off stage and vomit, it was horrific. And I felt so bad for everyone else.

“There’s not a lot worse than putting on a massive Rooster outfit, while your stomach is cramping and knowing that you cannot run to the toilet.

“And then you have to perform Freddie Mercury’s song.

“I should have won just for that reason.

“If only the judges — and the audience – knew what was going on literally behind the scenes.”

Sheridan’s panic attacks started when he donned the heavy Tim Chappel-designed Rooster costume, which took 30 minutes to slip into, and realised — for the first time in his life — he was claustrophobic.

It took 30 minutes to get into the heavy Rooster costume. Hugh Sheridan was revealed as The Rooster, coming third on The Masked Singer Australia. Picture: Ten

“It was hard to breathe anyway because I had been so sick (with Covid) – nothing was working in my favour,” Sheridan shares.

“I was so worried about my voice that I would sound shit.

“And on top of that I was basically blind (inside the mask), so I’m blind, I can’t breathe and I’m having panic attacks.”

Ratings for The Masked Singer have been strong this season and the final reveal – with Sheridan coming third behind Sheldon Riley as the Snapdragon and former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton as Mirrorball in the fourth season of Ten’s bonkers reality show – drew 955,000 viewers nationally, with an average of 821,000 viewers across the fourth season.

Sheridan will next play Neil Diamond in a show honouring his music, called Solitary Man, where – as the name suggests – he is the only performer.

Hugh Sheridan with his good friends Rebel Wilson and her partner Ramona Agruma.

When he learned he’d been picked for the role, he was happily engaged and planning a wedding to Kurt Roberts. Now he is single.

Although he jokes he’s thinking about doing Celebrity Bachelor in Paradise and let “everyone do some matchmaking for me”, following on from news early this year he set up good friends Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma.

“To be honest it’s nice being single this time – I can just focus on work and just living my life,” Sheridan said.

Apart from his Solitary Man shows in Melbourne and Sydney in October, he’s playing Felix Turner in Ad Astra Theatre’s production of The Normal Heart.

And he might well be back on season four of Five Bedrooms. Sheridan paused tellingly when asked if Lachlan would return for the Paramount+ drama after Covid border closures kept him out of the third instalment.

But first he’s heading to Ibiza to DJ at Project Zero Big Splash Ibiza, joining David Guetta and other celebrities including Kate Moss and Mick Jagger.